Thursday, September 17, 2009

JEC Chair Maloney Statement on African American Unemployment

Washington, D.C. - Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly jobs report for August. Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, released the following statement in reaction to the labor market conditions facing the African American community:

“Today's employment numbers show that although the economy shows signs of recovery, employers are still reluctant to hire,” said Rep. Maloney. “I am optimistic that as more stimulus projects get underway in the coming months, more African Americans will be heading back to work."

Some quick facts from the August Jobs Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
· The unemployment rate for African American workers is now at 15.1 percent, up 6.2 percentage points from the start of the recession in December 2007.

Carolyn B. Maloney

Carolyn B. Maloney
· The share of African Americans with a job has dropped 5.0 percentage points over the recession to 52.8 percent. The last time the employment-to-population ratio for African Americans was this low was August 1984.
· The unemployment rate for African American males 20 and over is 17.0 percent, 8.8 percentage points higher than at the start of the recession. This means that more than 1 in 6 African American men, age 20 or over, is unemployed and actively searching for work. And African American men are more likely to be unemployed for a longer period of time.
The median duration of unemployment for African American men is 21.8 weeks, much higher than the median duration of 15.6 weeks for white men.
· The unemployment rate for African American women age 20 and over has risen 4.8 percentage points since the start of the recession to 11.9 percent.
· Unemployment among minority teens is especially high –1 in 3 African American and Hispanic teens are unemployed. That compares with 1 in 4 for white teens

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